Brisket >>> Corned Beff >>> Pastrami = Curing (seasoning ???)

My first attempt at this Pastrami thingy. After spending weeks scouring the internet for ideas & recipes, I am at a cross road.

About half the info out there says add all the spices and flavorings during the curing process and the other half says to do a simple cure first and then add the spices and flavorings before cooking or smoking.

What to do, what to do??? FYI, I will be dry curing & baking in the oven, foil wrapped, in lieu of going the smoking route.

What are your suggestions???

Thxs, Klyde.

P.S. I have Hickory & Apple wood smoked salt. Would this be the time to try one out and which?

Simple Brine Cure works fine but a couple Tablespoons of spices or generic Pickling Spice would not hurt. Injecting greatly speeds the process. My fav spice mix is below. Without smoking, it's not really Pastrami but I guess it will be ok. The smoked salt will make no difference so I wouldn't waste it...JJ

Better 'en NY Pastrami Rub

2T Turbinado Sugar

2T Black Peppercorns

1T Coriander Seed

1T Dill Seed

1T Dry Minced Onion

1T Dry Minced Garlic

1tsp Allspice Berries

1tsp Mustard Seed

1tsp Dry Thyme Leaves

3 Bay Leaves, crumbled

1tsp Juniper Berries

All Spices are Whole and were toasted in a dry pan over Medium heat until fragrant.

Let the Spices cool then Grind in a cheapo Coffee Grinder until slightly less than Coarse. The Garlic and Onion do not need to be toasted. If grinding do so only slightly as the Minced size is pretty close to perfect for Pastrami.

As far as curing with smoked salt. Adding it to a brine would make the smoke flavor so dilute you will not taste it. Even if you used smoked salt in a Dry Rub Cure, the smoke will only be on the surface as smoke particulate are huge and would not penetrate in to the meat. My rub above does not contain salt as it is used to make a fully cured brisket into Pastrami.
You can try a Low Salt cure, 1 to 1.5% salt by weight either dry or brine, then add your smoked salt to the rub on the surface...JJ